FORMER prime minister Margaret Thatcher was tweeted a supportive message yesterday by David Cameron after having a growth removed from her bladder.

Margaret Thatcher is currently in hospital after undergoing an operation

The PM wished her a “speedy recovery”. Baroness Thatcher, 87, was admitted to hospital on Thursday after complaining of abdominal pains.

Lord Bell, a friend and former adviser, said she was “absolutely fine” following the operation, although it is thought she may have to stay in ­hospital over Christmas.

He added: “The operation was a ­complete success and her condition is satisfactory. She’s very tough. The doctors are perfectly happy.”

Lady Thatcher was the UK’s first female prime minister and served three terms between 1979 and 1990. She has been dogged by ill-health recently and was not well enough to join the Queen for a lunch with Mr Cameron and former prime ministers as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations earlier this year.

The operation was a ­complete success and her condition is satisfactory

Lord Bell

Her husband Sir Denis died in 2003 and children Sir Mark and Carol both live abroad. Carol has returned to England to visit her mother in hospital. It is understood Mark is still on holiday in the Caribbean.

Lady Thatcher missed an 85th birthday party thrown for her two years ago by Mr Cameron at 10 Downing Street because of her health problems.

However, she was sufficiently well in October to mark her 87th birthday with lunch at a restaurant in London’s exclusive St James’s district with Mark and his wife Sarah.